Adrian's Tree Service was set up during student days, in 1972. Its business model was the diagnosis and treatment of tree problems, which included a bit of pruning and tree removals. The company got heavily into arboriculture when Darrell Magnus came to us in 1976.
September 1978. Darrell & Adrian prepare to cut down a pine tree next to a house after Hurricane Fredrick, Mobile, AL. Click image for a larger view.
Darrell stayed on with us untill he retired from the Marine Corps in 1980. Gradually, we purchased dump trucks, saws, and chippers and became a state-of-the-art tree company.
Adrian rebuilding the engine of an old truck in the driveway, fall 1975.
New Orleans was slowly changing from an oil boomtown to a recreation destination, with a gradual erosion of the economy, beginning in 1984.
Using a crane to remove a tree, 1992.
Our sales flattened out and we slogged on for the next 20 years. Things had almost pinched out by the time Katrina hit in 2005.
The home of Ms. Storey after Katrina, Holy Cross neighborhood - I treated a 33" DBH Pecan in her backyard for control of Formosan termites on 04/05/2001. The tree had a solid rind of wood only 9 inches thick. The termite colony accepted 10,000 gallons of water without filling up, indicating a massive underground warren.
Holy Cross neighborhood after Katrina. Note water line on overturned car.
Lower 9th Ward after Hurricane Katrina, 2005 - this spot is adjacent to the breach of the Industrial Canal levee.
Scene from the Lower 9th Ward after Hurricane Katrina.
Katrina 2005: Wreckage of helicopter near Bayou St. John.
Katrina 2005: Broken tree, note huge hidden termite cavity in this oak.
Using crews marshaled from out-of-town, we did an enormous amount of storm removal and tax loss consultation for our clients in the next 8 months. The caliber of employees and economy slid once again until the last tree crew was laid off in May 2008. We moved to the Northshore, 40 miles north of New Orleans and stopped tree cutting activities. We concentrate now on tree pest control activities, honey production and consulting.